Photographer of Families, Small People and Delightful Places.
Travel and Lifestyle Writer and Blogger.
Lives in Newcastle, Loves the North, Often Accompanied By A Beagle Named Holly Bobbins

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Casa Batllo and Parc Guell, the magical architecture of Antoni Gaudi

You can't visit Barcelona without experiencing Gaudi, Antoni Gaudi was a genius both existentially and literally, every single piece of Gaudi architecture that Harriet and I visited on our trip to Barcelona made us stop in our tracks, sending shivers down our spine, houses with dragons on the roofs, parks with ornate mosaicked terraces which must have taken years to finish, we walked into rooms at the Casa Batllo almost breathless at the wonders within, Gaudi was the master of Modernisme (Catalan Modernism) and his influences will live on forever. La Sagrada Familia will finally reach completion in 10 years time, 100 years after the anniversary of his death as long as it continues to receive enough donations, literally every euro taken at La Sagrada goes straight back into completing his completed designs, what a tragedy to design something so amazing but never see it built to fruition.

Harriet and I visited Casa Batllo and Park Guell on the same day whilst stopping to admire the exterior of La Sagrada, we did try to visit on the same day but found that the only way to do it if you haven't booked in advance is to turn up as early as possible, so on the day we eventually went inside we bought our tickets at nine and got admission for noon.

Our first taste of Gaudi was at Casa Batllo, one of Gaudi's residential projects, Modernisme is also of course art nouveau and for me, one of my favourite periods of architecture along with art deco, I love the curves and the flowers and the sweeping movement in the designs, some so fluid they are almost imaginable as liquid.

I think for me the thing I love about Gaudi was his fascination with light in an almost photographic way, he looked in all his work to make the light in the rooms as magical as possible, he wanted the buildings to wow you in every sense of the word and the great thing is that for me it doesn't matter whether you are 5 or 55 or even 105, we can all enjoy the creations of Gaudi for what we want to take from them and at Parc Guell he designed a landscape of gardens for everyone, the mosaic terraces, the fountains featuring Lizards, a magical esoteric wonderland all presented in the most halcyon of colours.

I have to say that my favourite place we visited was probably Parc Guell, even though it was busy I just fell in love with the magical shaped buildings and gorgeous terraces filled with plants and flowers, i'd love to go back out of season when it's not so crowded and just stop for a while and I'd love to think that I found a little inspiration I can use in my own work, I think Gaudi teaches a lesson and that is to be bold, brave, and brilliant, something I choose to live by each and every day, I love to create whimsy with light in the images I shoot and I'll personally be ever thankful that there are brave, create forward thinkers in our history who continue to inspire and delight with a legacy that will live on forever.